Electrical charge state manipulation of single silicon vacancies in a silicon carbide quantum optoelectronic device

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the electrical manipulation of charge states in silicon vacancies within silicon carbide, enabling improved control for quantum sensing and information applications through integrated optoelectronic devices.

Contribution

It introduces a method for charge state switching of silicon vacancies in silicon carbide using bias control in integrated devices, highlighting the role of doping and defect environment.

Findings

Charge state switching achieved via bias in silicon carbide devices.

Electronic environment influences charge state stability and photon emission.

Control of charge states enhances potential for quantum technology applications.

Abstract

Colour centres with long-lived spins are established platforms for quantum sensing and quantum information applications. Colour centres exist in different charge states, each of them with distinct optical and spin properties. Application to quantum technology requires the capability to access and stabilize charge states for each specific task. Here, we investigate charge state manipulation of individual silicon vacancies in silicon carbide, a system which has recently shown a unique combination of long spin coherence time and ultrastable spin-selective optical transitions. In particular, we demonstrate charge state switching through the bias applied to the colour centre in an integrated silicon carbide opto-electronic device. We show that the electronic environment defined by the doping profile and the distribution of other defects in the device plays a key role for charge state control. Our experimental results and numerical modeling evidence that control of these complex interactions can, under certain conditions, enhance the photon emission rate. These findings open the way for deterministic control over the charge state of spin-active colour centres for quantum technology and provide novel techniques for monitoring doping profiles and voltage sensing in microscopic devices.